Trench-digging machine.



Patented Apr. 1 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

' "WE/W01; fakizla wiz B) ATTORNEYS J. LAPIN.

TRBNGH DIGGING MACHINE.

' Patented Apr. 16, 1912.

HEB EHBET Z.

J. LAPIN.

TRENCH DIGGING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 12, 1911.

Patented Apr. 16, 1912.

3 BHEBTSSHEET 3.

MMWM

COLUMBIA PLANOQRAPM c o.. WASHINGTON, u. c.

JOHN LAPIN, on NEW YORK, 1v. Y.

TRENCH-DIGGING MACHINE.

assen.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN LAPIN, a subject of the Czar of Russia, and aresident of the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, in the county ofKings and State of New York, have invented a new and ImprovedTrench-Digging Machine, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description.

My invention relates to a new and improved trench-digging andsoil-cutting machine.

An object of my invention is to cut a trench by positioning two parallelknives on a carriage, whereby the movement of the carriage forward onportable tracks will cut the outline of the trench.

A further object of my invention is to provide means whereby the widthof the trench may be varied.

A still further object of my invention is to so construct the carriagethat it may be dismounted for transportation.

With the above and other objects in view, as will more fully hereinafterappear, the present invention consists in certain novel details ofconstruction and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described,illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and more particularly pointedout in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of ref erence indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures, and in which Figure 1 is a planview looking down upon a preferred embodiment of my invention; Fig. 2 isa longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1, andshowing the shovel in position; Fig. 3 is an end elevation looking inthe direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a detailedelevation of the carriage axle showing the attachments in section; andFig. 5 is a de' tailed perspective view of the shovel attachment.

Positioned upon a section of the track A, is a carriage B, and alsopositioned upon the track is a shovel (l. The track A comprises a fiatplate 1 having perforations 2 spaced apart thereon, by means of whichthe track is temporarily held to the ground by means of spikes 3. Thetrack is cut away as shown at 4L on opposite sides of the plate 1, inorder to form a fitting end for Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 12, 1911.

Patented Apr. 16, 1912.

Serial No. 602,143.

the next adjacent section of the track, whereby the several sections maybe fastened together and preserved in alinement,

Mounted centrally and longitudinally of the plate 1 is any preferredform of rack 5, and positioned on the outside of each of the racks 5 andspaced apart from the same is a bearing surface 7. Mounted to movelongitudinally along the spaced-apart tracks is the carriage B,comprising a screw-threaded axle 8, having its opposite endssquareheaded as shown at 9. Rigidly fastened upon the square heads 9 isany preferred form of enlarged hand wheel 10. The outer end of the axle8, adjacent the square head 9, is grooved at 11, and over this portionof each end is placed a sleeve 12, which in turn is surrounded by thehub 13 of a wheel 14, having a rack 14 in the periphery thereof, therebyforming a gear wheel, the notches of which are adapted to fit into theteeth 6 of the rack 5. The sleeve and hub are removably affixed to theaxle 8 by means of a bolt 15 passing diametrically therethrough and intothe slot 11, in order to form a spline connection between said axle andwheel. These sleeves 12 are held in position on the axle 8 by means ofnuts 16. It will be seen that by this arrangement, the wheels can bedrawn closely together or spread apart on the axles, depending upon thesize of the trench which is to be dug.

Loosely mounted upon the axle 8, intermediate the wheels 14, is a sodand soil-cutting mechanism, comprising spaced-apart angle arms 17,comprising a downwardly and rearwardly-inolined arm 18 integrallyconnected with a horizontally-disposed arm 19 outwardly offset from thearm 18 at the angle of the two members. The arm 19 has positionedtherein roller bearings 20 adapted to roll upon the horizontal innerside of the plate 7. The upper end of the arm 18 terminates in arecessed head 21, encircling a sleeve 22 loosely mounted upon the axle 8and adjustably held in position by means of nuts 23. The two arms 17 areheld rigidly in position and spaced apart by means of threaded bolts 2%and 25, the bolt 2% passing through the oppositely-disposed arms 18adjacent the angle of the arm 17, and held in position by means of nuts26 positioned on opposite sides of each of the arms 18. Similarly, thebolt 25 passes through and connects the opposite sides of the horizontalarm 19 and is held in this position by nuts 27. The horizontal arm 19has its inner side beveled downward and inward as shown at 28, and tothis beveled surface and slightly in rear of the enlarged angularportion 29 is positioned a relatively short rearwardly inclinedsod-cutting knife 30. P- sitioned on this beveled surface and to therear end of the same is a relatively long forwardly-inclinedditch-cutting knife 31 rigidly afiixed to the horizontal arm 19.

In operation, several sections of track A are laid on opposite sides ofthe line of the proposed trench and are temporarily positioned inposition by means of the spikes 3. The wheels are positioned with theirteeth in engagement with the rack on the track, and the wheels aresplined to the axle and adjustably fastened in place by means of thenuts 16. The knives 30 and 31 are then adjusted on the axle 8 byadjusting the bolts 24 and 25 until the knives are positioned apart adistance equal to the desired width of the trench. By means of the handwheels 10, the carriage is drawn forward on the track, as indicated bythe arrows in Fig. 2, and it will be seen that the relatively smallsoil-cutting knives 30 will cut a parallel groove by means of which topsod may be easily lifted off the ground, and the rela tively longerknives 31 will cut a slot in the ground proportionate to the verticaldepth of these latter knives, thereby forming the outline of the trench,as shown in Fig. 3. Should the power applied to the hand wheels beinsufficient to draw the carriage along, I have provided studs 33 spacedapart on the outer edge of each of the wheels, which will afford afulcrum for a bar disposed with one end resting against the hub of thewheel, whereby force may be applied to the outer end of such a bar, tomove the wheel over any ordinary obstruction. By replacing section aftersection of the track in advance of the machine, it will be seen that atrench as long as desired may be out.

In order to remove the soil from between the cut grooves, I positionupon the track a shoveling device shown in Fig. 5, in general outlineresembling a spade having an enlarged blade portion 34 and a long handle35. Positioned on opposite sides of the blade 34: are rollers 36 adaptedto rest upon the bearing surface 7 of the track and acting as a fulcrum,by means of which the cut soil is forced up out of the trench, as shownin Fig. 2. This shovel has a series of perforations 37, to admit of theready passage of any water in the soil and the blade of the shovel has apair of longitudinally-disposed ribs 38 positioned on opposite sides ofa medial line, which ribs are notched as shown at 39, having the notchedsurface facing toward the handle, thereby obstructing the freewithdrawal of the blade. To further obtain this object, there is a rigidstrip 40 positioned centrally of the blade and adj acent the forwardedge 41. In order to afford a better grip on the handle, there ispositioned along the handle a pair of gripping rods 42 extending atright angles to the axis of the handle 35. It will be seen that by thisarrangement, the workman gripping this shovel by the holding means 42,can force the shovel into the out soil, and by bearing down until thewheels 36 come into contact with the track, the soil is raised out ofthe ditch to a position where it can readily be drawn off the shovel toone side of the ditch.

Many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparentlywidely different embodiments of this invention could be made withoutdeparting from the scope thereof.

It is intended that all matters contained herein, in the abovedescription, or shown in the accompanying drawings, shall be interpretedas illustrative and not in a limiting sense. It is also to be understoodthat the language used in the following claims is merely intended tocover all the generic and specific features of the invention hereindescribed and all statements of the scope of the invention, which, as amatter of language, might be said to fall therebetween, and thatmaterials, sizes and relativities of parts are non-essential, except ascalled for in the claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent:

1. In a trench-digging machine, an axle, traction wheels mounted on saidaxle, means by which the distance between said wheels is varied, asoil-cutting mechanism loosely mounted on said axle between said wheels,said mechanism comprising a pair of downwardly and rearwardly-inclinedarms and horizontal members rigidly connected with and offset from saidarms, roller bearings journaled in each of said horizontal membersadapted to support the same, adjustable means holding said arms andhorizontal members in their spaced apart position, a relatively shortrearwardly-inclined sod-cutting knife carried by each of said horizontalmembers, and a relatively long forwardlyinclined trench cutting knifecarried by each of said horizontal members.

2. In a trench-digging machine, an axle, traction wheels mounted on saidaxle, means by which the distance between said wheels is varied, asoil-cutting mechanism loosely mounted on said axle between said wheels,said mechanism comprising a pair of downwardly and rearwardly-inclinedarms and horizontal members rigidly connected with and offset from saidarms, roller bearings journaled in each of said horizontal membersadapted to support the same, adjustable means holding said arms andhorizontal members in their spaced apart position, a relatively shortrearwardly-inclined sod-cutting knife carried by each of said horizontalmembers, a relatively long forwardly-inclined trench cutting knifecarried by each of said horizontal members, and a hand wheel rigidlymounted on each of the outer ends of said axle, whereby the machine ispropelled.

3. In a trenclrcutting machine, comprising tract-ion wheels mounted on ascrewthreaded axle, means holding said wheels in adjustable position onsaid axle, and a sod and soil-cutting mechanism loosely mounted on saidaxle between said wheels and comprising spaced-apart knives andadjustable means holding said knives in position, said adjustable meansbracing said machine.

4. In a trench-cutting machine, an adjustable track, said trackcomprising a pair of parallel flat plates, means for automaticallyholding said plates to the ground, a rack mounted centrally andlongitudinally of each plate, said machine having adjustable wheelsmounted thereon, said wheels each having a rack about the peripherythereof adapted to engage the rack on the plates, said machine having asoilcutting mechanism carried thereby, roller members mounted on saidmachine and adapted to roll on the plates adjacent the rack, and meansfor rotating the wheels of said machine to propel the same along thetrack.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN LAPIN.

Witnesses:

IV. S. On'roN, PHILIP D. ROLLHLAUS.

Copies of this patent may be "obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C.

